


A Sister's Duty

by SalazarTipton



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Invasion of Privacy, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Secret Relationship, Secrets Revealed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 08:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/SalazarTipton
Summary: When flexing her powers at the Wild Pony doesn't produce the results she wants, Isobel tries her hand on figuring out what's been going on with Michael lately.





	A Sister's Duty

**Author's Note:**

> someone for the love of all things roswell please take away my muse long enough so i can finish one wip before putting up another

“Maybe I just need a more difficult target…”

“Izzy, no. Let’s get out outta here. You did good on Hank, but let’s not push it. You can’t undo a lifetime of hiding your powers in one night no matter how much you want to, okay?” Michael says, reaching out to rub a hand across her shoulder. 

She knows she should listen to him. Tripping into that table earlier really sent home just how much this is affecting her. If she pushes and causes a scene somehow, it’ll just create questions and drama. Isobel’s already dealing with enough of that thanks to the rope burns she left on Noah last week. So, she nods and leans in against Michael as he leads her out of the Wild Pony and out to his truck. 

Michael turns down the radio and let’s Isobel rest during the ride back out to Max’s place. Resting is all she wants to think about right now. Her head bounces a little against the window once they hit the dirt road, but she’s tired enough that she doesn’t mind. When he pulls up to the house, she’s out. Michael gives her a minute or so, just listening to the quiet desert night before brushing the back of his index finger over her cheek. 

“Isobel,” he whispers. She hums at him and pulls open her eyes in what looks like a difficult struggle. “We’re here.”

Michael goes inside to grab himself a beer and Isobel some nail polish remover and water while she starts up the fire pit again. She tugs a blanket around her shoulders and stares into the flames. How is she supposed to help her family when she’s this weak? Making one small-minded asshole order a cosmo and donate to organizations he’s actively against is fun, but it’s nothing compared to the difficult task of making Liz forget how much she loves Isobel’s brother and get the hell away from her family. 

She snaps out of her thoughts when Michael taps her should with the nail polish remover. Sending him a small smile, she takes it, but doesn’t drink. He sets the water down beside her before flopping down in the chair beside hers. With a bit of scraping against the flagstone, he shuffles the chair closer to her until he can wrap his arm around her shoulder. He’s never this affectionate and open so she takes what she can and lifts her hand up to twine their fingers together. 

Lately, Michael’s been even more closed off and reserved than normal. Isobel chalked it up to this whole Liz Ortecho situation, but looking up at his face now tells her there’s something else going on--not that he’d ever say. He never tells her anything that’s going on with him and it kills her. Despite her best efforts, Michael’s convinced himself he has to go at everything alone without any kind of support. She finally uncaps the bottle and takes a quick swig of the acetone. Maybe she can change that…

While it’s been years since Isobel has tried to get into either of her brothers’ heads, she used to do it. Just a little dream walking here and there to see how much she was capable of. It was safer trying things out on them than some human that could freak out or learn too much. She knows she can’t ask about that night they promised to never talk about, but she can ask him other things. 

“Hey, Michael?” she asks. 

He glances away from the fire and down at her, a question hanging in his expression. He looks so tired. His usual mask of confidence and defiance is nowhere to be seen. Instead, he’s just Michael--scared and open. She takes the opportunity before he has a chance to realize what she’s doing. 

The world shimmers away from them only to be replaced with a near-perfect replica. Everything seems the same aside from the flames frozen in place and no heat coming from them. Isobel can’t help the smile that creeps over her lips. This is  _ her domain _ . She reaches up cup Michael’s cheek with her palm. He looks so lost. 

“What’s bothering you?” she asks, earnestly. 

“I--” He cuts himself off as tears start to well up in his eyes. Isobel’s chest clenches and she can’t tell if it’s her sympathetic hurt for him or his actual emotions following through her. 

“You don’t have to tell me. Just show me.”

Isobel’s own tears start spilling from her eyes as she watches Alex Manes pour his heart out to Michael only to watch him close it off just as quickly a week or so later. Michael’s love and pain and self-loathing seeps into her bones. She feels like tearing Alex apart by hand, but also like she wants to hold onto her brother and never let go--never let anything hurt him like that again. 

When the world come back into view with the fire pit flickering in the gentle wind rolling over the desert, they’re still locked in each other gaze with wet cheeks. She reaches out for him, but he flinches back. His fingers come up to feel the tears he didn’t realize he was shedding. 

“What did you do?” he croaks out. 

He goes to pull away from her, but she reaches out and curls her fists into his shirt. She can’t let him just shut her out another time when he so clearly needs someone, needs her. 

“I get why you didn’t tell me from Alex reacted when I came by to see you about max, but dammit Michael! I don’t care what he wants. All I care about it you and  _ what you want _ and that was to talk about all of this,” Isobel says. 

Michael sucks in a shaky breath unable to pill himself back together now that the floodgates are open and Isobel can really see him for the first time in years. 

“You had no right,” he whispers. 

“Maybe so, but I’m your sister. When has that ever stopped me before?” she jokes. 

It pulls a smile onto his face. He shifts a little closer and she takes a mile from that little inch. She pulls him to her and he tucks his face into the crook of her neck while his arms snake around her back and squeeze. She holds him as he shakes out wet sobs. Isobel can’t help except wonder when the last time Michael let himself go like this, not bottling up all his emotions until he explodes out in a telekinetic display.

“Alex walking away isn’t a mark on the kind of person you are,” she whispers into his hair. “It speaks volumes about him--but not you. It’s not your fault. You are loved and cared about and so fucking important, okay? Don’t let him diminish that.”

“Letting him walk back into my life just to crush me again and again is what r-really tells you the kinda guy I am, Iz,” he stutters out as he tries to get hold on his breathing again. 

By the time Max gets home and finds them out back, Michael is tucked into Isobel’s side with his head on her chest fast asleep. The tear stains on his cheeks and the redness around both their eyes make him worry, but Isobel just shakes her head at him. It’s one thing for her to bust into Michael’s private life; it’s another all together for Max to start asking questions too. Tonight will stay between her and Michael...until she can get her hands on Alex Manes, that is. 

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think!!! i'd love to hear from you. comments and kudos are what keep me going tbh  
> come find me on tumblr: bialiencowboy


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